4. Okay, this should've been a job for Nicole: Once I left garlic, hot pepper and olive oil sizzling in a saucepan too long. The whole thing caught fire. When I saw the two-foot flame, I also had a brief vision of the condo burning to the ground — and the whole town pointing sooty, accusing fingers at me. I was already thinking about how to haul all the computers out of the house. Thank heavens the husband got home that moment and managed, after burning off the hair on his arms, to put the saucepan under the faucet. The spicy-hot smoke was particularly painful to nose, eyes and throat — I felt as if I'd been dipped in a pool of Tabasco acid.

5.I like my steak raw and all bloody, please.

6. No sense denying it: I'm a Lit major drop-out.

It's Cathy's birthday:

Discovered through Answers.com that Cathy Guisewite is celebrating today. I've got particularly fond memories of reading her comic strips in my —erm— youth. Had a good friend who kept me hooked on books and books of her stuff. Damn, but I never imagined she was this old (1950). Hee.

michi, not sure i want to know what else you do better with your left hand. **snicker**

oh oh oh!! i'd never have imagined baking soda would put out grease fires, nicole. thanks for that tip! i'll keep it in mind.

i've got, i fear, a penchant for starting fires without even playing with matches. i remember trying to put out some tissue that caught fire (don't ask why **blush**) by stomping on it with my bunny slippers. sooooooo not a good idea.

hey arlene,like your list... brain damage does seem rather an extreme explanation. ha! that cathy strip is funny. yup. my purse is overweight, too. I carry a tote bag along with it every day for my books and it still breaks my neck.

About Me

Arlene Ang is the author of "The Desecration of Doves" (2005), "Secret Love Poems" (Rubicon Press, 2007), and a collaborative book with Valerie Fox, "Bundles of Letters Including A, V and Epsilon" (Texture Press, 2008). Her third full-length collection, "Seeing Birds in Church is a Kind of Adieu" was published by Cinnamon Press in 2010. Her poems have appeared in Ambit, Caketrain, Diagram, Poetry Ireland, Poet Lore, Rattle, Salt Hill as well as the Best of the Web anthologies 2008 and 2009 (Dzanc Books). She lives in Spinea, Italy where she serves as staff editor for The Pedestal Magazine and Press 1. Website: www.leafscape.org